There, It has grown. 2013-2021

As a graphic designer active in a wide range of genres from magazines and books to art events, Naoki Sato produced the project “Central East Tokyo” (area renovation project) during 2003 – 2010, and was involved in the founding of the art center, 3331 Arts Chiyoda. After that, he shifted focus on making drawings starting from his involvement in the festival known as “TRANS ARTS TOKYO”.

His series “There, It has grown”, beginning in 2013 with “TRANS ARTS TOKYO 2013” (former grounds of Tokyo Denki University), still continues to develop to this day. These monochrome drawings focused on plants currently reach 250 meters in length. Moved toward drawing by the shock experienced after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, since then Sato continues making works as if they are growing weeds.

For the Tokyo Biennale, Sato will create a 270-meter corridor of paintings in the Seisoku Gakuen High School building in Chiyoda Ward that combines the “Seizoroizaka” and “There, It has grown” series, both of which are ongoing.

(As of June 2021)

1: “Unexplored Tokyo: There, It has grown-” 2017, 3331 Arts Chiyoa (Tokyo)
2: “Sato Naoki Exhibition: Circulating Pages and Murals” 2019, Art Museum & Library, Ota (Gunma)
3: First “There, It has grown-” 2013, Seizoroizaka 2014-2019

Current Activities

[Live Painting & Talk]　Naoki Sato and Satoshi Koganezawa “The Road to Tokyo Biennale” Vol.1 (11.12. 2020)
As the first of a planned series of four public talks, curator Satoshi Koganezawa posed various questions to Sato while envisioning the project i its realized form at the Tokyo Biennale.

[Live Painting & Talk]　There it has grown. (13.11.2020)
As Sato himself worked on his painting in real time, Satoshi Koganezawa, curator of the “Exhibition of Book and Art vol.3 Sato Naoki Exhibition: Circulating Paper and Murals” that was held at Art Museum and Library, Ota in 2019, asked him about the background to his painting and activities to date.

Artist